


message in a tin can

by killerqueenwrites (KillainsTales)



Series: tony loves his kids [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Harley Keener is a Good Bro, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), i had to get my feelings out, i would die for morgan stark, peter and harley meet, so spoilers, tony loves all his kids okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-29
Updated: 2019-04-29
Packaged: 2020-02-09 12:45:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18638410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KillainsTales/pseuds/killerqueenwrites
Summary: Endgame spoilers! Full summary inside.





	message in a tin can

**Author's Note:**

> Tony left a lot of messages. Peter watches his and finds that he’s not as alone as he thinks he is.
> 
>  
> 
> look look i hate how endgame ended, even though i enjoyed most of it (some of it was a fucking travesty, but whatever), and i normally never write major character death fics, but i just had to get my feelings out about it. please believe i am already planning a fix-it, and i still want to stick around in this fandom for as long as it exists. i just need a minute to get over that movie, because if marvel make me watch peter parker cry again, i will sue.

“Peter.”

 

He stares out at the lake, at the little wreath still floating aimlessly across the water.

 

“Peter? Baby?” May tucks a curl behind his ear. “Colonel Rhodes is talking to you.”

 

Peter blinks and looks around. Colonel Rhodes is touching his shoulder, his face twisted in sympathy.

 

He doesn’t want sympathy. He wants Mr Stark.

 

“You know we played the message that – the thing Tony left for us, before this. He, um…you have one too.”

 

Oh. His brain can’t really form a response to that, so he just watches Pepper gently pass Morgan off to Happy and slowly walk away.

 

“You don’t have to watch it now,” Colonel Rhodes says quickly. “Just…whenever you’re ready.”

 

When will that be? When will he ever not feel this gaping loss, a numb hole in his chest?

 

“Peter?” May says again. “What do you want to do? We can just go home if you want, honey.”

 

“No, I – I’ll watch it.”

 

“Okay. It’s inside.” Colonel Rhodes clears his throat. “I’ll set it up for you, and then…it’s private, kid.”

 

“Please don’t call me that,” Peter whispers. He doesn’t have an explanation, other than the fact that it just sounds _wrong_.

 

“Okay.” Colonel Rhodes doesn’t ask.

 

* * *

 

_“Hey, kid.”_

 

The Tony Stark standing in front of him, holographic and translucent, beamed from an old Iron Man helmet, is still so painfully alive; all Peter has been able to see since a week ago is his glazed eyes and agonised expression. The image hovers at the back of his mind no matter what he does, taunting him with memories of the faint glimmer of recognition in Mr Stark’s face, his wheezing breaths, his uncomprehending look when Peter had told him they’d won.

 

_“Thought I’d better do this separate from the others, you know? Kind of because they’re here right now, and it’s easier to imagine how they’ll react, what they’ll think. You…you get further away the more time passes, and I…God, I miss you so much, Pete._

_“All being well, you won't ever watch this, but there's a chance I don't make it out the other side. This is just in case it goes shitside-up – I mean, hopefully, it won’t. Hopefully, you never see this, and I get to tell you everything in person, but you never know. That’s the hero gig. If you are seeing this, I guess I must've done something right – all I want is to get you back – and if I have to go, I…I hope I get to see you again, at least. I want to tell you that you didn’t need to apologise for…well, you didn’t.”_

 

 _If you die, I feel like that’s on me. I don’t need that on my conscience._ The words had been bouncing around Peter’s head the second he started to feel nauseous on that planet. He barely remembers what he’d said once he’d collapsed to the ground – he was more worried about the fact he couldn’t feel his legs – but he knows that the guilt was almost as overwhelming as the panic.

 

 _“I wasn’t gonna do this. I was happy to just sit on my ass and hide out here with what I had left, but then…but then I found that picture. You know the one, right? The day we made your internship official, and Pepper almost murdered us because we couldn’t stop doing stupid poses?”_ Mr Stark holds up a peace sign with a snort. _“Don’t be mad, okay? I know you would’ve wanted me to move on, start again, and I did, but when Morgan came along, I was terrified._

_“I was so scared I was gonna mess up, because you know I messed up with you more than once. I screwed the pooch, then you screwed the pooch, then I had another turn at screwing the – you know what? I need to stop using that metaphor.”_

 

Peter can’t help the little laugh that bubbles out of his chest, but it comes out sounding like a cross between a hiccup and a sob.

 

 _“Point is, you were kind of my crash test dummy for this parenting business, and I let you down in the worst way I possibly could. So…I have to do this. I have to at least try. But! But but but – don’t feel guilty, you hear me?”_ Mr Stark smiles gently, looking right at Peter. _“I know you. I know what you’re like. I’m not doing it because of you; I’m doing it for you. I just worked out how to break the laws of the universe in one night for you, kid, and that’s not even a fraction of what I’d do for you and Morgan._

_“She knows about you, you know. I tell her stories about her older brother, and what a brave, brilliant, selfless, kind,_ good _kid he was. That’s who you were, who you are, and who you have to be. If this goes bad, she’s not gonna have me, and you…you were always so much better than me. You need to stay_ good _, Peter. I know you’ve lost so much, and you’ve never let it make you angry or bitter. That can’t change. The little guy’s still gonna need Spider-Man, and my little girl’s gonna need you._

 

 _“God, I can’t believe – I just realised that, if you’re watching this, that means I’m leaving you and Harley Keener unsupervised.”_ Mr Stark lets out a little laugh. _“Holy shit, that’s terrifying. Don’t get into too much trouble, you hear me? The two of you combined are either going to destroy the world or save it._

_“You know the drill: don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, don’t do anything I would do. Remember the grey area? Stay in it.”_ Mr Stark bends down to the helmet, and Peter prepares to watch him disappear all over again, but he pauses. _“Oh, and before I go…”_

 

Mr Stark glances up, his gaze once again finding Peter’s; it’s warm and gentle and sad, but there’s something else there, too.

 

_“I love you, kid. So damn much, and I’m sorry I never said it while we were both here. Just…please don’t ever question that. I love you, Peter.”_

 

The message ends. Mr Stark disappears. Peter pulls his knees up to his chest and cries.

 

* * *

 

He doesn’t know how long he stays there, sobbing into his suit trousers. He can hear someone hovering just outside the door, but they don’t come in.

 

Mr Stark is dead. _Dead_. Peter will never see him again, except for this same old message, the same YouTube videos, the same news clips and interviews.

 

The sound of little feet tapping on the wood floor reaches his ears.

 

“Morgan! Come back.” Happy steps through the door. “I told you you couldn’t come inside yet – oh, kid.”

 

Peter looks up, not even bothering to wipe his face.

 

Happy crouches in front of him, Tony’s little girl clinging to his side. “I know,” he whispers, “I know, kid.”

 

“I just-“ Peter swallows down another sob. “It was, like, fifteen minutes for me. I wake up and I’m freaking out because, you know, I died-“

 

“I thought you couldn’t remember that.”

 

“Took a while for it to come back,” Peter mumbles. “And we ran into each other, and he looked at me like…like I was the best thing he’d ever seen, like he’d missed me, and I didn’t _understand_.”

 

“He missed you so much.” Happy clears his throat. “We all did.”

 

“It didn’t feel like five years, though. Not to me. We just got each other back, and…” He hiccups on another sob.

 

Happy reaches out and pats his knee awkwardly. The little girl climbs up onto the sofa next to Peter.

 

“Hey.” A shaky whisper is about all he can manage, but he does dredge up a smile. “You’re Morgan, aren’t you?”

 

“Uh-huh. You’re Peter.”

 

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m Peter.”

 

“Daddy told me about you.” She tilts her head with all the bold curiosity a child should have. “He said you were one of the best people he ever knew.”

 

“Well, he was one of the best people I ever knew. The best, probably.”

 

“Are you sad?”

 

Peter swallows. “Yeah,” he whispers, “I’m sad. I miss your daddy.”

 

“I miss him too. Mommy says I have to remember him, but it’s hard. I have a lot of stuff to remember, like reading and the alphabet and math-“

 

“It’s okay,” Peter says, “I’ll help you remember him. I know…I know some funny stories about him that no one else knows apart from FRIDAY. And I know some nice stories, too. I’ll make sure you don’t forget him.”

 

“Cool,” Morgan says cheerfully. “You still look sad. Do you want a hug?”

 

Before Peter can answer, she climbs into his lap and throws her little arms around his neck.

 

“Wish Boss could’ve seen this,” Happy croaks.

 

The words slice right through Peter and he frantically searches for something else to think about. “Thank you, Morgan, but you shouldn’t hug strangers, all right?”

 

“You’re not a stranger,” she says matter-of-factly. “You’re my big brother.”

 

Peter covers his mouth and tries to muffle his sobs.

 

“I’m hungry,” Morgan announces. “Are you hungry?”

 

“Always,” Peter says with a weak smile.

 

“Uncle Happy said I can have a cheeseburger. Do you want one?”

 

“Cheeseburgers sound, uh, great.” Before he pulls back, Peter wipes his eyes and does his best impression of a smile. “How many cheeseburgers?”

 

“Uncle Happy said as many as I want.”

 

“Really? So if I’m your brother, do I have to call him Uncle Happy?”

 

“Yeah, feel free not to,” Happy says, a teasing grin tugging at his lips. “Come on, kiddo. Let’s go for a drive, huh? Peter?”

 

“I’m coming, just – I need a minute.”

 

“Sure. We’ll be out in the car.” Happy scoops Morgan up, hesitating for a second. “Just because he’s gone, kid, doesn’t mean – I’m still here, is what I’m tryna say.”

 

“Thanks, Happy.”

 

Happy reaches out, pats him on the shoulder and leaves.

 

Peter revels in the silence. His ears have been ringing since he saw the spaceship from the bus a week ago – no, it just _feels_ like a week ago. Five years have passed. The grey in Happy’s hair and the little girl who already knows Peter are proof of that.

 

The door opens, and his moment of peace is gone.

 

“Oh, hey. Sorry.” A boy a few years older than him is leaning awkwardly into the sitting room. “Colonel Rhodes told me to come in and make myself comfortable – he said Tony left a message?”

 

“Oh.” Peter wipes his face again. “Sure, sorry, I’ll just-“

 

“Nah, don’t worry. You look like you could use a minute.”

 

Despite everything, Peter laughs. “That bad, huh?”

 

“Makes a nice change from all the manly men outside refusing to cry.” The boy shrugs, but his eyes are searching. “You’re Peter, right?”

 

Okay… “Sorry, I don’t-“

 

“Nah, it’s cool. We haven’t met yet. Tony – well, it took a crowbar to get him to open up, but once he did, he talked about you a lot.”

 

“Even after…?”

 

“Yeah, well, he checked in with me after, you know, _that_ , which was fine, but then he kept checking in and sending suits to check in and it kinda got to be too much. So I confronted him, with my winning personality, and called him a paranoid old man. That was when he told me about you. Really tore him up. When Pepper told him she was pregnant, he called me and had a panic attack.”

 

“…oh.”

 

“Took half an hour of him crying that he couldn’t lose another kid before he calmed down. I was about to drive up here and smack him, tell him he was doing all right with me.” The boy shakes himself and shrugs off the doorframe. “Sorry – rambling. You have no idea who I am. I’m Harley. It’s nice to meet you, man. Didn’t think I’d get the chance.”

 

“You too. Um, how do – did you know Mr Stark?”

 

“Met him when he threatened a terrorist and crashed in Buttfuck, Tennessee. That was a wild forty-eight hours. He broke into my garage, blew up my town’s water tower, had several panic attacks and saved the President.”

 

Peter blinks. “Wow.”

 

“Yeah, wild, like I said. He kinda stayed in touch after that, but it became a regular thing when the…yeah, that happened.” Harley shifts, putting his hands in his pockets. “Look, you don’t know me, so I’m sorry if this is weird, but…once he stopped freaking out every time someone brought you up, he used to smile, get really happy when he talked about you. He loved you a lot.”

 

Peter nods and looks down. “Thanks, man.”

 

“No worries. Did I hear Her Royal Highness demanding cheeseburgers?”

 

“Yeah, Happy’s gonna take us, I think.”

 

“Mind waiting around for a minute? I’m starving.”

 

And Peter stands up, wipes his eyes, and manages a real smile. “Sure.”

 

“Thanks, man.” Harley grins as he takes Peter’s seat on the couch. “Can’t wait for five minutes of ‘don’t you dare recruit Peter for your schemes, Keener’.”

 

Peter laughs. “He did say something about us either saving the world or destroying it.”

 

“Sounds about right. We better not disappoint him.”

 

“We’ll save the world over cheeseburgers,” Peter agrees.

 

“Saving the world,” Harley says with a wistful smile. “He’d love that. Pretend to take all the credit, but he’d be so fucking proud.”

 

“He would, wouldn’t he? As long as he thought we couldn’t see.”

 

“Damn straight. God forbid Tony Stark actually tell someone who isn’t Pepper how he feels about them.”

 

“Well, play your message,” Peter says, the words coming out softer than he means them to. “He always liked surprising people.”

 

Harley meets his eyes and nods, something like understanding hovering in the air between them: solidarity, maybe. They share the same pain, but once they get past that, they have something better to share.

 

“Glad you’re back, Peter Parker,” Harley says finally. “We’re gonna change the world.”

 

“For Mr Stark.”

 

“For Tony.”

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! i'm on tumblr @akillerqueenwrites, or my main blog @akillerqueenyouare. come say hi, ask questions, leave prompts or just yell at me.


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